1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a chain-type tool magazine for tools of a machining center and, more particularly, to a chain-type tool magazine for directing the axis of a selected tool in parallel to the axis of a spindle of a machining center.
2. Related Prior Art
A machining center includes a spindle for driving various tools for executing various types of machining (or “tooling”). The machining center further includes a magazine for storing the tools and a tool-changing robot for changing the tools.
A chain-type magazine includes a chain-type conveyor including holders each for holding the shank of one of the tools. With the chain-type conveyor, the tools are moved, one after another, to the vicinity of the tool-changing robot. With the tool-changing robot, a selected one of the tools is moved from the related holder and substituted for a tool originally connected to the spindle. The axis of each of the holders is perpendicular to the axis of the spindle. Hence, the tool-changing robot must take many steps to complete its task. It has to move forward and backward to take the shank of the selected tool from the related holder, and then change the angle of the selected tool, and finally insert the shank of the selected tool into a cavity defined in the spindle. It requires a complicated structure and takes a lot of time to complete the task. Hence, the efficiency of the machining of a work-piece is reduced, and the cost of the work-piece is high. Moreover, the cost of maintaining the machining center is high because of the complicated structure. In addition, conventional chain-type magazines are however complicated and expensive. Furthermore, tool-changing robots are devised according to the conventional chain-type magazine and are therefore expensive.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.